Kerrville class for kids cooks up lessons about food, God
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By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Fourteen heads capped in miniature chef hats bend over the kitchen tables at First UMC, Kerrville.
The students, none older than 8, are intent on making perfectly flat circles with their dough, as their
instructor, Darrel Young, has shown them.
Giggles pepper the room as they try, fail and try again.
In his second year teaching “God’s Growing Gourmets,” a cooking school for children 4 to 12, Young said his goal was not to create perfect chefs but to show children
that cooking could be fun.
“Kids respond so well to cooking,” he said. “Parents come up to me when I’m out in the community to say their children (now) want to cook at home. It’s sparked an interest. It’s thrilling for me to know that.”
The effort is a ministry before it is a cooking class, Young said. He begins each session of the three-part class with a prayer that he and his students will glorify
God in what their hands create.
Young said he decided to start the class after he was hired two years ago as First UMC food ministry coordinator. A chef himself, Young said he and his wife, a pastry chef, always had their two children, ages 4 and 5, in the
kitchen with them.
“I knew how much children would enjoy something like this,” he said. “And there is no one doing things
for kids this young.”
Patti Hutte, director of First UMC’s children’s ministry, said, “This class has been extremely popular and well-received. The kids enjoy it because it’s very hands-on.”
And they get to eat everything they create, she added.
During each class, Young instructs students on making appetizers, including bread; a main course; and a dessert. Between each food cooked during class, Young talks to children about God and prays for them.
Cost is $40 for three sessions or $15 per session.
At the end of the three sessions, students receive a cookbook with all the recipes they cooked during class and some of Young’s personal favorites.
Students hail from Austin, Dallas and all across Texas. Many have grandparents who are members of
First UMC, Hutte said.
Joshua Font, an 11-year-old recruited as Young’s chef-in-training, was visiting from Beaumont when his grandmother signed him up for the class.
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Special events boost community visibility
Congregations across Southwest Texas say Open House Month activities during early September have helped them increase community visibility and boost attendance.
“It’s made a huge difference,” said Pastor Janna Hawes of First UMC, Raymondville. “We’ve tried different ways to reach out to the community. We try to be intentional in doing outreach and finding ways to make this a more welcoming church. There are a lot of people in Willacy County who are unchurched.
“We have a feeding ministry, and people know they can come here if their families are hungry. Once you establish a relationship with people, and they know they’re not going to be judged, they come to you for help. We’re trying to do as many things as we can to have open hearts and open minds.”
The 152-member Raymondville congregation scheduled its annual “Invite a Friend Sunday” for Sept. 9.
This year church members intentionally invited parents of children in the preschool program and made a conscious effort to target new teachers in the community by meeting them all personally, Hawes said.
“It’s about relationships,” Hawes said. “When we get out there and meet people and are friendly to them, that’s what the church is about. Jesus Christ taught relationships.”
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Academy training can aid all churches
Though specifically aimed at work in cities, the Holy Boldness Urban Ministries Academy could benefit any church, Southwest Texas Conference leaders say.
“Let’s put it this way,” said Ralph Thompson, who is to lead one of the sessions. “If your church is surrounded by people, but the pews are empty, you might need to consider urban ministries. If your church is in a community that doesn’t look like the people in Sunday worship, you might need urban ministries.
“If you don’t get visitors or only get onetime visitors, you might need urban ministries. And if you feel that your church is struggling to discern and respond to God’s purpose for your congregations, you might need urban ministries.”
The first classes of the two-year academy are scheduled for Sept. 28 to 30 at Travis Park UMC, San Antonio. Additional classes are set for Jan. 18-20 and March 28-30 at Travis Park. Three more events are planned for late 2008 and early 2009.
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Discipleship board proposes new hymnal
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—United Methodists could have a new hymnal by 2013 under plans endorsed by the General Board of Discipleship last month.
Elected board directors, meeting Aug. 22-25, voted to ask the 2008 General Conference to form a committee to begin developing a new hymnal.
If the committee’s work is approved by the denomination’s top legislative body in 2012, the new resource would replace The United Methodist Hymnal published in 1989. The new song and worship book would be the second official revision since the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist churches in 1968—not including new books for specific racial/ethnic or language communities.
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